Katherine Dunham News

As part of a means to celebrate the rich and beautiful diversity in Tampa Bay, The Straz Center created The Straz Arts Legacy REMIX Project, where writers, actors, musicians, singers, and dancers join together to perform for a free event showcasing a particular culture. During February's Black History month, The Straz Arts Legacy REMIX Project will celebrate artists of color on screen by showing three influential films in TECO Theatre 3-5pm on February 3, 10, and 17.

Germaul Barnes, a NY-based contemporary dance artist with a global approach to movement, will appear as a panelist and master educator at the International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference & Festival in Dayton, OH, January 22-27, 2019. Barnes is a member of the IABD Next Generation Committee and will teach three master classes and serve on a panel with the Coalition for Diasporan Scholars Moving (CDSM) during the conference.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) has named Jenisha McDonald the 2019 Katherine Dunham Fellow. McDonald, a junior studying business administration at University of Missouri-St. Louis, currently works at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. The Katherine Dunham Fellowship, created and funded by Sara and Jack Burke and managed by A&E, promotes diversity in arts leadership by giving African-American students and opportunity to explore, gain experience and be mentored in arts administration.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) and Maritz have awarded 15 area schools with grants to support classroom-based art projects during the 2018-19 academic year. The program, administered by A&E, is funded by a $25,000 gift from Maritz with additional support provided by individual donors. With these 15 grants, this unique partnership between A&E and Maritz has generated nearly a quarter of a million dollars for art education across the bi-state region since 2009.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) is launching a new program this fall for St. Louisans interested in experiencing the arts through a different lens while connecting with others. Catalyst Conversations is a series of casual discussions - some playful, some serious, but all engaging and thought-provoking - in A&E's Catalyst Innovation Lab, a "living room for the arts" on the ground floor of the Centene Center for the Arts.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) is accepting applications for the spring 2019 Katherine Dunham Fellowship, a program that promotes diversity in arts leadership by giving African-American students and recent graduates an opportunity to explore, gain experience and be mentored in arts administration. Applications are due Oct. 29.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E), in partnership with EducationPlus, has announced an affiliation with the St. Louis Suburban Music Educators Association (SLSMEA). A&E assumes administrative management of the association, which manages the honors bands and music festival competitions in St. Louis County school districts and some school districts in St. Charles County. The partnership took effect July 1.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) has named Southern Illinois University Edwardsville student Allena Brazier the fall 2018 Katherine Dunham Fellowship recipient. The fall 2018 fellowship is made possible by a generous gift from Carol Corey and William Holcomb. The program, created and initially funded by Sara and Jack Burke and managed by A&E, promotes diversity in arts leadership by giving African-American students an opportunity to explore, gain experience and be mentored in arts administration.

Irondale is proud to present the New York premiere of Sea of Common Catastrophe, a surreal multimedia theater work that grapples with complicity in the face of rapid urban change. Designed and directed by Jeff Becker, who leads a team of fellow New Orleans-based artists, Sea of Common Catastrophe follows three long-time residents of a tiny seaside town whose lives are uprooted when a compelling stranger arrives. Inspired by a passage from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novella Sea of Lost Time-where a town drowns on a Sunday afternoon but persists, submerged, in its daily life, as if the deluge had never occurred-Sea of Common Catastrophe uses spectacular lighting and video, live music, and an innovative two-story set to evoke a changing landscape of upscale living and chic restaurants that suddenly transforms into a magical sunken world.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) has announced seven honorees for the 2019 St. Louis Arts Awards. Celebrating its 28th year, the St. Louis Arts Awards is the region's preeminent event honoring artists, educators, individuals and organizations that achieve a legacy of artistic excellence and enrich St. Louis' arts and cultural community.

Lula Washington, an L. A. native from Watts, along with her husband Erwin Washington and daughter Tamica Washington Miller, have been the incumbent founders, creators, directors and choreographers of the LULA WASHINGTON DANCE THEATRE since 1980. They began with the goal to motivate, educate, inspire, challenge and enrich the lives of young people so they could become successful, productive and competitive citizens. Thirty years later, and now a major dance company all over the world, their appearance here in Los Angeles at The Ford Theatre was an incredible ensemble of dance works choreographed by a variety of talented artists, including Lula and Tamica, and performed by one of the most powerful, strong and exciting company of dancers on the planet.

The Ford Theatres presents Lula Washington Dance Theatre (LWDT) today, June 8 at 8:30pm, as part of its IGNITE @ the FORD! series. For this joyous evening of dance, the Ford Theatres has brought together three renowned choreographers - Kyle Abraham, Rennie Harris and David Rousseve - to set works on one of Los Angeles's most beloved contemporary dance companies, LWDT, alongside pieces by the esteemed Lula Washington and Tamica Washington-Miller. This performance is taking place in recognition of the 2018 Dance/USA Annual Conference, the country's broadest gathering of dance professionals, from June 6-9 in Los Angeles.

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago announces the appointment of Ellen Chenoweth as the permanent Director of its Dance Presenting Series (DPS) and a new faculty member of the Department of Dance, effective July 1, 2018. Chenoweth has been serving as Interim Director of the DPS since September 11, 2017.

Dances for a Variable Population (DVP) will present three performances of Revival 2 - an outdoor public dance project that re-imagines the works of celebrated 20th century choreographers, taking place at iconic public spaces in New York City and featuring 50 non-professional senior dancers and seven legendary female dance artists.  

Irondale is proud to present the New York premiere of Sea of Common Catastrophe, a surreal multimedia theater work that grapples with complicity in the face of rapid urban change. Designed and directed by Jeff Becker, who leads a team of fellow New Orleans-based artists, Sea of Common Catastrophe follows three long-time residents of a tiny seaside town whose lives are uprooted when a compelling stranger arrives. Inspired by a passage from Gabriel Garc?i?a Ma?rquez's novella Sea of Lost Time-where a town drowns on a Sunday afternoon but persists, submerged, in its daily life, as if the deluge had never occurred-Sea of Common Catastrophe uses spectacular lighting and video, live music, and an innovative two-story set to evoke a changing landscape of upscale living and chic restaurants that suddenly transforms into a magical sunken world.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) announced today the expansion of the Katherine Dunham Fellowship, a program that aims to develop a pipeline of African-American leaders in the arts, to support a second fellowship beginning in fall 2018. Applications for the fall semester are now open and due May 31.

The Ford Theatres presents Lula Washington Dance Theatre (LWDT) on Friday, June 8 at 8:30pm, as part of its IGNITE @ the FORD! series. For this joyous evening of dance, the Ford Theatres has brought together three renowned choreographers - Kyle Abraham, Rennie Harris and David Rousseve - to set works on one of Los Angeles's most beloved contemporary dance companies, LWDT, alongside pieces by the esteemed Lula Washington and Tamica Washington-Miller. This performance is taking place in recognition of the 2018 Dance/USA Annual Conference, the country's broadest gathering of dance professionals, from June 6-9 in Los Angeles.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) announced today that the nonprofit organization's Board of Directors elected three new members at the April 19 meeting: Kendall Coyne, vice president of tax, Ameren; Brad Liebman, vice president, HOK; and Rodney Sanders, global talent & organizational capability lead, Monsanto.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) has opened nominations for the 28th annual St. Louis Arts Awards, the region's preeminent award ceremony honoring individuals, organizations and businesses that have made outstanding contributions to the area's vibrant arts community. The public is invited to submit nominations online through May 18, 2018. A community panel will review nominations and honorees for the 2019 St. Louis Arts Awards will be announced in June 2018.

The Arts and Education Council (A&E) announced today that C. Brendan Johnson, partner at Bryan Cave, LLP, has been elected as the nonprofit's new board chair. Johnson previously served as A&E board vice chair since 2016. A&E also announced six new board members: Mark C. Anderson, president, MCA Consulting; Sara Burke, founder, The City Studio Dance Center; Ken Haller, M.D., professor of pediatrics, Saint Louis University; Gordon Myers, senior vice president, U.S. Bank; Kit Sundararaman, principal, Edward Jones; and Paul Ziegler, J.D., executive director, EducationPlus.